Wind Energy Beats Nuclear Power On ERCOT Grid In 2015

In 2015, wind energy surpassed nuclear power to become the third biggest source of electricity in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region. According to ERCOT, wind power provided 11.7%, or about 40.8 million MWh, of the grid operator’s electricity during the year. That’s up from 10.6% in 2014, when wind was the fourth largest electricity source.

Natural gas, at 48.3%, continues to be the dominant fuel used to generate electricity in the ERCOT region, followed by coal at 28.1%. As mentioned, wind beat out nuclear power, which increased slightly from 2014 but, at 39.4 million MWh, provided about 11.3% of the total energy used.

Texas wind power had a strong year in 2015, during which wind generation achieved several new output records, including the latest (13,883 MW) on Dec. 20.

According to ERCOT, overall electricity use also increased in the region last year: The grid system ended 2015 at 347,522,948 MWh, an increase of 7,489,595 MWh, or 2.2%, over the 340,033,353 MWh consumed in the region in 2014.